Question

State any four rights of the consumer.

Explain the rights of the consumers.

State rights of the consumer.

Answer 1

The success of any campaign depends on the consciousness and awareness of the people for whose cause the movement is organized. Consumer rights play an important role in their protection and safety. The business aim should be to meet the needs of the consumers and to provide full satisfaction. Every consumer should be aware of his rights and use them in his daily life for protection. Consumers have to fight for their rights and put pressure on businesses, manufacturers, and traders for safeguarding their rights.

Some of the rights of consumers are as follows:

1. Right to Safety: This right protects consumers against products, production processes, and services that are hazardous to health or life. It includes concern for consumer's long-term interests as well as their immediate requirements. According to this right, the consumer must get full safety and protection for his life and health. This safety should be in relation to medicines, electrical appliances, food, etc. The GOI has given safety standards in the form of AGMARK, lSI, BIS, Hallmark, etc.
2. Right to Information: According to this right, a consumer should be provided with adequate information about all aspects of goods and services like price, name of the manufacturer, contents used, batch number if any, date of manufacture and expiry date, user manual, safety instruction, etc. This right also enables the consumer to select the right product or service. It is applicable to food products, medicines, spare parts, or any other consumer products or services.
3. Right to Choose: The choices available to Indian consumers across the basket of goods and services have multiplied, like telecommunications, travel and tourism, banking, electronics, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), etc. According to this right, a consumer should be given full freedom to select an article as per his requirements, liking and purchasing capacity. The right to choose is related to the concept of a free-market economy. As per this right, the seller can not compel the consumer to buy a particular product and hence monopoly is prevented.
4. Right to be heard: Every business organization should listen to and solve the complaints of consumers. According to this right, consumers have the opportunity to voice their complaints to the consumer forum. Consumers also give suggestions to manufacturers or traders on certain matters such as quality, quantity, price, packaging, etc. Now a days, consumers can file online complaints through the portal or mobile applications.
5. Right to Consumer Education: Every consumer has the right to know about consumer rights and solutions to their problems. This right creates consumer awareness. An aware consumer can make a rational choice of goods and services and protect his rights and interests from the exploitation of unscrupulous businessmen. Thus, consumer education becomes a priority concern. It is necessary to give education and training regarding prevailing acts and legal processes. The government, media, and NGOs play vital roles in this regard. E.g., 'Jago Grahak Jago' campaign.
6. Right to Represent: The act provides an opportunity for individuals and consumer groups to represent consumer's interests before the consumer forum. The act allows the consumer to be represented by a person who is not a professional advocate. This provision is in recognition of the consumer's right to represent.
7. Right to Redress: This right enables the consumer to demand repair or replacement or compensation for defective products and for poor services. According to the Consumer protection Act, three-tier quasi-judicial consumer dispute redressal machinery is established for the settlement of claims, such as the District Commission at the district level, the State Commission at the state level, and the National Commission at the national level. Consumers are protected from business malpractices.
8. Right to Healthy Environment: All consumers have a right to a healthy and clean environment. According to this right, the consumer can demand action against the pollution-causing business organizations. All consumers have the right to a healthy and clean environment in the present and future.
9. Right to Protect from unfair business practices: As per this right, all consumers are protected against unfair business practices such as black marketing, profiteering, faulty weights and measures, exorbitant prices, adulteration, etc.
10. Right against spurious goods: This right is against the marketing of goods that are hazardous to health, spurious, and pose a danger to life itself.